Complexities & Conundrums: Zakharova's Briefing

Yes, it's a long read

Maria seems to wear her blue suit whenever a difficult briefing is anticipated, although that might just be chance. The entire Weekly Briefing is longer than usual as several of the topics remarked upon were lengthy because of their complexity. And the Q&A provided a mixture of that same complexity with answers inviting potential double standards, conundrums and a few where the only response can be “It’s about time.” Putin said emotions are to be avoided, but that’s a very tall order given current events. The entire briefing won’t be provided, but what you’ll read consists of what’s described above. There are points where readers will disagree with Russian policy regarding what’s happening in Gaza and Palestine, but then there’s the consistency of that policy and when looked at it overall was correct but made incorrect by the Outlaw US Empire. The selections from the overall briefing are what are the most appropriate given the space available. The link to the Russian transcript is above and is accompanied by a video as usual, while the English version has yet to appear at the MFA English web page as of 1930 Eastern Time and might not appear at all given the level of rightful severe indictments of Outlaw US Empire criminal behavior. But the Empire isn’t the only object of ire in the briefing as you’ll soon discover. Here’s the selections:

International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists

November 2 marks the tenth International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, established by the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in memory of the two French journalists abducted and murdered in Mali on November 2, 2013.

The theme of this year's event, "Violence Against Journalists, Election Integrity and the Role of Governance," aims to draw attention to "the main challenges faced by the profession, including attacks and restrictions of all kinds." Unfortunately, we have a lot to say about this burning topic.

Targeted restrictions and lawlessness against representatives of the media sphere have become almost commonplace in "advanced" democracies. Aggressive censorship, outright bans and blocking of broadcasting, "freezing" of bank accounts, intimidation, defamation, pressure from the special services and criminal prosecution of Russian and Russian-speaking journalists, and other conceivable and unthinkable repressive measures against undesirable media outlets practiced by the "collective West" and countries seeking to get into this club of the underdeveloped, is the true background against which the debate on the protection of journalists is developing at the instigation of Western countries. That's absurd.

We see that this is not the only date in the calendar of human rights defenders who guard the interests of journalists. These days (it is difficult to call them holidays) are multiplying. But crimes against journalists are increasing even more. The most surprising thing is that all this comes at the instigation of those who each time make new proposals on how to make the work of the media safer, to preserve and ensure freedom of speech.

Violence has become a common form of influencing media workers in "advanced democracies." (I would say pushed back). One of the recent striking examples is the brutal detention and expulsion of Rossiyskaya Gazeta correspondent Alexander Gasyuk from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus by local special services. It was as if they were guessing what moment to choose. After this outrageous attack on a media representative, we did not see any proper measures to restore justice and end impunity, nor did we see an elementary apology for the Russian journalist. A few days ago, the same thing was done to a correspondent of Rossiyskaya Gazeta by the Bulgarian authorities. The leadership of this country insistently hinted to us that everything should be left out of the information field. But they also belong to the community of those who advocate for freedom of speech and the protection of the rights of journalists. After psychological pressure against illegal actions against a journalist, are they offered to remain silent, to pretend that nothing had happened? It's an interesting approach.

The situation is aggravated by the shameful disregard by the relevant international agencies for such treatment of media professionals, which only inflames the authorities of the countries concerned to further violate the rights of the media and journalists, and impose censorship.

First of all, Russian journalists and military correspondents are under attack, who, in fact, a real hunt has been announced. No one even hides it. However, the member states of the European Union and NATO are genuinely surprised by our response to their journalists, which is taken solely in response to harassment and violations of the rights of Russian media. When we say that we have the moral right to do this not only as mirror steps, but also in response to the sanctions they impose and the unleashing of an information war against Russian media and journalists, they do not understand what they are talking about.

Recently, I once again spoke with a representative of one of the Western countries. I was forced to tell him (given that he is an official, I thought I was aware, but no) that his state regularly votes for the inclusion of Russian journalists in stop lists and sanctions lists. On the one hand, these people, countries and their representatives propose to concentrate even more on the field of protecting the rights of journalists, and on the other hand, they also vote (although it seems to me that this is more coercion to vote) for decisions that go against journalism and the Russian media.

The criminal Kiev regime has repeatedly, with feigned pride, very transparently hinted at its involvement in terrorist attacks against Russian journalists and public figures. He literally boasted that he had "already managed to get hold of many media personalities." This is not said by some anonymous bloggers or straw men, but by a quote from Kiev officials.

Here's another example. In 2014, in order to prepare extremist and terrorist acts, the odious Myrotvorets website was created, which publishes the personal data of state and public figures. How many journalists are there? There are all those who did not act in line with the course pursued by the current Nazi Ukraine. Not only Russian, but also from NATO and EU countries. But they do not pay attention to this, even though there are citizens of their countries. The terrorist website is still active, despite our many years of efforts to get it blocked or at least condemned by Washington, London, Brussels and Paris. Berlin. The Council of Europe sees literally everything, but for some reason this website does not. It is the blocking and condemnation that would meet the tasks of combating impunity against media workers, but in the West, where the site's facilities are located (which is why they are responsible for this), they are too accustomed to dividing journalists into "us" and "bad".

Just the day before yesterday, as a result of another shelling of civilian infrastructure in Donetsk by Ukrainian militants, three employees of Izvestia were seriously injured at once. Miraculously, the journalists of TASS and the Zvezda TV channel, who came under fire, were also not injured. They arrived to cover the aftermath of rocket salvos at the railway station and came under repeated fire. That is, the Ukrainian military deliberately waited for a pause in order to guarantee casualties among those who arrived to eliminate the consequences of the first strike of rescuers, doctors and journalists. Who does that? Is this the military action of the regular army? That's how terrorists operate. Their logic.

On this day, we consider it important to make a statement: we demand that the relevant international organisations conscientiously fulfil their duties and condemn the brutal murders of Igor Kornelyuk, Alexander Voloshin, Alexander Stenin, Alexander Klyan, Dmitry Dugina, Oleg Klokov, Viktor Tatarsky (Mikhail Fomin), Roman Zhuravlev and other journalists who died in the line of duty. We demand that the issue of illegal and immoral behaviour by NATO countries against representatives of the journalistic profession, primarily Russian journalists, be raised. Not because we represent the interests of our country, but because in terms of numbers and impunity, it is Russian journalists who have found themselves on the "frontline" of injustice. We honour the memory of all those who died and remember their names. We are trying to do everything we can to protect not only media representatives, but also journalism itself. Because at this rate, there will be nothing left of it, only propaganda.

We will continue to seek justice and bring to justice all those responsible for the deaths and violations of the rights of journalists.

On the Ukrainian crisis

Neo-Nazis in Kiev continue to strike at residential buildings and social infrastructure in Russian regions. On October 27 of this year, they opened fire on a school in the village of Novochervone (LHP) right during a children's party. According to the local administration, there were about 20 children at the school at the time. Only by a miracle did they manage to avoid casualties.

On October 26 and 28 of this year, as a result of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the settlements of the Kherson region, a civilian was killed, two more were wounded. On October 29 of this year, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit the village of Yasinovataya (DPR), three civilians were injured.

On the evening of October 31, Ukrainian militants launched a rocket attack on Donetsk using cluster munitions. About 20 shells of various artillery systems, including HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, were fired at the city. Two people were killed, including an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, who was extinguishing the fire and came under repeated shelling. 12 people were injured. Among them are journalists from Izvestia and a cameraman from the Zvezda TV channel.

Vladimir Zelensky's regime does not stop using methods of bloody terror and does not hesitate to publicly confess to its crimes (they are proud) and flaunt what they have done, as was the case after the attacks on the Crimean Bridge and attempts on the lives of Russian public and political figures.

On the night of October 27 in Yalta, on the instructions of the Security Service of Ukraine, an attempt was made to assassinate public and political figure Oleg Tsarev. The West does not see any of this, as it has all these years. The Kiev junta is taking revenge on him for his categorical rejection of aggressive Ukrainian nationalism and his firm anti-fascist position. We strongly condemn this barbaric crime. All those involved in it will be identified and held accountable according to the law.

Another example of the subversive activities of the Ukrainian special services was the instigation of the recent unrest in Dagestan. We have taken note of Bandera's signature style – the desire to arrange a massacre on ethnic grounds and to deal with innocent people. The purpose of such actions is to intimidate the civilian population and destabilize the political situation in Russia.

Do you think they're just doing it now? We have repeatedly said that it did not start in 2022, but for many years we have been living under the conditions of information terrorism on the part of Ukraine under the leadership of the Kiev regime. False calls to our citizens under the guise of representatives of law enforcement agencies, e-mails allegedly from social services, banks, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, etc. What is this, if not telephone terrorism and attempts to destabilize the situation in our country? Let me remind you of a terrible thing: Moscow has become a victim not of telephone fraudsters, but of terrorists from the territory of Ukraine, who called and "mined" not just social facilities, but kindergartens and schools. Children were taken out of the institutions to be checked after these calls. No one in the West or in the relevant international structures paid attention to this. Thousands of children were taken outside and taken to nearby buildings to wait until they could return to school or be picked up by their parents. And it wasn't in the summer. Has anyone paid attention to this? No.

First of all, all this will not achieve the goal set by the Kiev regime. Secondly, it will be stopped and punished.

We know very well how Kiev's propaganda works from the makeshift staged in Bucha in late March and early April 2022 by the Zelensky regime. Why is this a staging? We have said it repeatedly. Let me give you one more argument. A tragedy happened in the House of Trade Unions in Odessa - Ukrainian Nazis burned people alive, not letting them out of the burning building. The world knew the victims by name, books were published, documentaries were made with the names and dates of birth of everyone who died there. We have seen and still see the statements of their relatives. Websites and social media accounts are dedicated to the victims, you can find their photos and memories of loved ones. The whole story is documented. There is everything, including the saddest – their graves.

And what about Bucha? Apart from the visits of Western TV cameras there to "catch up" with Western politicians, there is nothing. No lists of "victims", no photographs, no films with eyewitness accounts – nothing. I think only a feature film will be made. They know how to do it. There is no documentary evidence, except for the footage planted at the time of this provocation, the staging.

There are international organizations that can and should officially request lists. We appealed not just to the UN Secretariat, but directly to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has done this repeatedly. The UN members shyly avert their eyes and say, "You understand everything." Yes, we do. But the point is that, apart from us, everyone else who gives money to the Kiev regime, including for such crimes, should understand this. As now, this provocation by the Kiev regime was aimed at undermining the situation and any peacekeeping efforts, disrupting the Russian-Ukrainian talks that were taking place at the time, and consolidating the ideology of imposing sanctions against Russia on a regular basis.

All this is not just recorded by us, but analysed, and the work of law enforcement agencies is underway. On the basis of evidence collected by the Investigative Committee of Russia, the courts of the Russian Federation continue to sentence Ukrainian neo-Nazis who committed grave crimes against civilians.

A militant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the command staff, who ordered to shoot two civilians in Mariupol in March last year, was sentenced to 28 years in prison. Ukrainian soldier Ivan Mikhalchuk, who gave the order to kill a civilian in Mariupol in April 2022, was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Neo-Nazis of the Azov Battalion Yevgeny Savelyev and A. Fiklients, who shot two civilians in March 2022 in Mariupol, were sentenced to 25 years in prison each. Another militant of this organization, Sergei Pyurko, who fired a grenade launcher at an apartment with a small child in Mariupol in March 2022, was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Work to bring to justice those involved in such crimes will continue. We will keep you informed about this on a regular basis.

Despite all the crimes of the Zelensky regime, the "collective West" does not stop supplying him with modern weapons and ammunition, providing him with intelligence, training the Ukrainian military, treating him, entertaining him, providing him with political support and motivating him.

On October 26 of this year, the United States announced the provision of another $150 million military aid package to Ukraine. It will include air defense systems, artillery, and anti-tank weapons. According to the Pentagon, the total amount of American military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the special military operationamounted to $43.9 billion. This is only what is officially stated. No one knows how much of this has come to whom, and to what extent. Judging by the fact that weapons are popping up in the Middle East, we understand that all this, among other things, is part of a corruption scheme.

The Danish government has announced its intention to provide military assistance to Kyiv in the amount of more than $523 million. In particular, it is planned to transfer artillery ammunition, tanks and armored vehicles.

Thus, the Anglo-Saxons, with the help of their satellites, continue the policy of unrestrained pumping of weapons into the Kiev regime, actually becoming an accomplice in its bloody crimes. For the sake of achieving their narrow selfish goals, they are ready to sacrifice the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, stability and prosperity not even in Ukraine (thanks to the efforts of the West, there is nothing left of this state), but on the European continent as a whole.

The spiral of hatred and aggressive Russophobia continues to unfold in Ukraine. The question is not about us, but about the fact that this is Nazism that has turned into terrorism on nationalist grounds. What will Europe do about this, which, instead of "treating" a terrible disease on the territory of Ukraine, contributes to its growth? Then they will come to us again. As they are now resorting to the problems that they themselves created in the 1990s in the North Caucasus. Westerners tell us to take away those whom they themselves received as heroes, gave them residence permits, extended visas or citizenship at once, allocated benefits, called them "fighters for freedom and democracy," and "scrolled" on all socially significant platforms. Now they are asking me to take it away. They don't know what to do with them. We have heard that we have the opportunity to influence them.

But they themselves created diaspora enclaves in Western and Northern Europe, gathering there notorious terrorists or their accomplices, people with clearly extremist views. They themselves have created a breeding ground for the reproduction of this ideology. What do we have to do with it? At that time, they terrorized us with their assessments of what was happening in the North Caucasus, saying that we were suffocating freedom there. Interesting. It will be the same with this situation. They are already suffocating from what they have done by creating the conditions for migratory flows. I'm not talking about the Middle East. Only about Ukraine. They do not control the actions of people who find themselves on the territory of the EU countries from the territory of Ukraine, they endow them not only with financial opportunities, but literally implant them in them, instilling a sense of absolute permissiveness and impunity. But you can calculate what will happen next. We know that. Do EU citizens know about this? I assure you that it is not.

Former Verkhovna Rada deputy and notorious activist of the radical Svoboda party I.D. Farion said in a recent interview that the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine "deserves complete and absolute disposal." Wow. That's all right? But she's not alone. Mikheil Saakashvili said that "mental correction of the majority of Russians is impossible." Do you know where these phrases come from? These are the words of the Nazis and fascists. That's what they said. At that time, the list was wider: in general, Slavs, Gypsies, Jews and other peoples who, from the point of view of the Third Reich and those who "sympathized" with them, did not lend themselves to mental correction and "deserved complete and absolute disposal." In fact, I.D. Farion called for the extermination of millions of people just because their mother tongue is Russian. Such statements are pure fascism.

Fascism is not a temporary concept, not a historical period, but an ideology. When and in what form it can reincarnate is a matter of permissiveness and impunity. But it is certainly not that since it was in the first third of the 20th century, it will never happen again, and everything that looks like it will not be so. No. This is an ideology that has had different manifestations in different historical epochs. The brightest was in the 20th century, and then it comes in the form of neo-Nazism, the reincarnation of fascism. It was a pure ideology that the whole world managed to defeat at that time. Now, since it has not been "broken", it manifests anew.

Who is behind this? Why does this ideology feel so comfortable? Because this is the fruit of many years of work by Westerners to cultivate the brown plague on the nationalist soil of Ukraine. Why? So that these forces become a stronghold of the West in countering our country. Fast, cheap, efficient from their point of view. It works. Then you can destroy it.

At the same time, Ukraine continues its policy of a total cleansing of the country's cultural and humanitarian space from the Russian language. Even the controversial 2019 law on the state language does not prohibit the use of languages other than Ukrainian in everyday communication and religious ceremonies. But now they've gone even further. Now the task is to deprive people of the right to what little they have left after the adoption of laws on total Ukrainization.

In January of this year, it was reported that the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy introduced a complete ban on communication in Russian for students, teachers and administrative staff. According to the rector, "the internal public opinion will be such that it will contribute to the fact that Mohyla will be a fully Ukrainian-language university." Needless to say, the language "ombudsman" T.D. Kremen actively supported this initiative and expressed the hope that other universities would follow the example of Mohylyanka. Do you know what they call it in Ukraine now? "Sprechenführer." I think so, absolutely.

In October of this year, the rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv announced the closure of the program for the study of Russian, Belarusian and Farsi. I wonder why Farsi? The university has also introduced a ban on the use of Russian sources in scientific works. When will the periodic table be banned? Silk and porcelain are also alien.

Decisions to ban the public use of Russian-language cultural products, including books, music, theatrical and circus performances, and films, are also made at the level of local authorities. In July of this year, such a moratorium was introduced by the Kyiv City Council. In October of this year, the Vinnytsia City Council followed suit, banning television programs, films, books and performances of Russian production and in the Russian language.

They reached the point of absurdity in Kiev, where, according to media reports, a banner appeared on one of the playgrounds with a list of rules of conduct, including a ban on speaking Russian.

Against this background, the results of a survey published by the public organization "Spilnomova" look scandalous, according to which 20% of preschoolers in Ukraine do not understand the state language. Who is to blame? Probably us. The study was conducted among children aged 5-6 years, of whom only 15% actively spoke Ukrainian. Ukrainian schoolchildren also remain predominantly Russian-speaking, communicating in Russian during breaks.

Neither the ban on its use, nor the demolition of monuments to Russian poets and writers, nor the abolition of Russian books, songs and films help in the fight against the Russian language. In desperation, the ambassador of Western jewellery houses, First Lady of Ukraine Yelena Zelenska, even asked Google representatives to "de-Russify" search and recommendations on Youtube. That should definitely help.

It is obvious that the Kiev regime, in its desire to build a mono-ethnic neo-Nazi state, is in fact trying to forcibly change the linguistic identity of its citizens.

October 28 of this year marked the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazi invaders. On that day in 1944, the soldiers of the Red Army completed the Eastern Carpathian Strategic Offensive Operation, reaching the borders of the Soviet Union. A very high price was paid for ridding the Ukrainian SSR of the Nazi evil spirits. About 2.6 million Soviet soldiers were killed or seriously wounded in the battles. The Nazis, according to various estimates, killed up to 10 million civilians. More than 700 cities and towns and about 28,<> villages were destroyed. The occupiers looted and demolished tens of thousands of healthcare, education and cultural institutions, industrial enterprises and collective farms.

Today, the Kiev regime, continuing its policy of falsifying history, is doing everything to erase from the memory of current and future generations the immortal feat of the Soviet people, whitewash fascism and glorify Nazi criminals, who are responsible for the lives of tens of thousands of innocent civilians – Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians, Poles, Jews and others.

We are confident that a new day of Ukraine's liberation from the power of the newly-emerged spiritual and ideological heirs of the misanthropic ideology is not far off.

Update on Moldova

We are closely monitoring the situation on the eve of the general local elections, which will be held in 898 localities and municipalities of Moldova on November 5. The election campaign is in full swing, candidates are presenting their programs and fighting for votes.

The central authorities of the Republic are also actively involved in this process, but in their own way. The main "slogan" of the Moldovan leadership remains the thesis of a non-existent "Russian threat", which is used to divert attention from its own managerial failure.

Moldova's State of Emergency Commission and the Intelligence and Security Service continue to purge the country of any manifestations of dissent, using repression against political opponents who have already reached an extreme point.

On October 30, the authorities suspended the licenses of six TV channels for allegedly "promoting foreign interests." Moldovan President Maia Sandu is a Romanian citizen, and Russian channels promote the interests of other countries? Is everything okay with logic? A Romanian citizen, being the leader of Moldova, renamed the Moldovan language to Romanian. But are Russian channels "promoting foreign interests"? Some kind of looking glass. People can't be so sure that any fake can pass.

The Moldovan authorities have blocked 31 information portals. All of them are allegedly "used in the information war against the Republic of Moldova" and "distort information". Let me remind you that a few days earlier, on October 24 of this year, 22 Russian-language news websites were blocked.

Moldova itself has already assessed these steps. They were called a desecration of the media space, another attack on independent media and freedom of speech. It is indicative that even local pro-Western non-governmental organizations expressed concern about what was happening and called for an assessment of the proportionality of such interference in the media sphere. At the same time, these and other gross violations by Chisinau of its international obligations in the field of protecting the rights of the media – a form of desecration of the very principles of pluralism of opinions and freedom of access to information – in the usual manner do not receive any reaction from the relevant international structures. We understand why. These international structures, including the OSCE with its "package" of authorized and specialized bodies, work only "for the sake of appearance". They just continue to be called so, receive a lot of money, go on business trips, use their mandates (it's not clear why), go to canteens. Where is the odious OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Timo Ribeiro? It used to be said that they were engaged in "quiet diplomacy". Only the results of this pseudo-activity are loud, scandalous, "screaming".

The Moldovan authorities do not stop at the infringement of freedom of speech. On October 29 this year, the candidate for mayor of Chisinau from the Party of Communists, D. Caraman, was denied the right to participate in televised debates only because she spoke Russian. This is despite the fact that 80% of Moldovans know and constantly use the Russian language. Insanity is different, let's go back to language. You can't speak Russian. Why? Six months ago, it was impossible, because you have to speak Moldovan. And now in Romanian? Where will they go from there?

What is this if not discrimination on the basis of language and violation of the basic principles of democracy, human rights and freedoms?

I recently learned that the sign language used for people with disabilities (who are deaf) has national schools. I believed that it was the same, that people everywhere understood it identically. It turned out that it wasn't. Just as there are different languages, there are total differences between sign language in different countries. If sign language originates from our country, Soviet or Russian schools, will it also be subject to total discrimination?

I talked to representatives of non-governmental organizations that deal with the rights and opportunities of people with hearing disabilities. Such discrimination already exists. Can you imagine what the world has come to? So many days, statements, press releases, NGOs have been created over the past decades to protect people's rights. Each aspect has received its own design in the form of everything (videos, resolutions, special holidays), but in practice it is the opposite. People are being deprived of their rights every hour. This is done by countries that are members of organizations that have worked on human rights issues.

How does this fit in with President Maia Sandu's promises (when she was still a candidate) to preserve the position of the Russian language in the country? Not at all. She deceived the people. She said that she would develop the harmonious coexistence of people of different cultures, languages, ideas and views on the territory of Moldova. All this has come to a state of persecution on national, ethnic and ideological grounds.

Interestingly, the Russophobic orientation of the domestic political course of the Moldovan leadership has significantly intensified after Chisinau received the status of a candidate for EU membership. Why? Because Brussels does not need states in the EU whose citizens have a good attitude towards Russia. Another "homework" for Maia Sandu is how best to curry favor with the West. It was necessary to strengthen Russophobia in the country. But it doesn't exist and never existed. This is an artificially created breeding ground of a nationalist nature, coming from the current leadership of Moldova. No one in the country (if we are talking about the overwhelming majority of citizens) has ever experienced or professed such approaches. Maia Sandu is a disgrace and a threat to the Moldovan people.

According to this president, the European integration of the Republic is possible without Transnistria, that is, in parts, outside the framework of the country's territorial integrity. She also said that in order to solve the Transnistrian problem, it is necessary to get rid of the self-proclaimed authorities in Tiraspol and break the established "5+2" negotiation format, excluding Russia from it and strengthening the role of the EU. Such statements are extremely dangerous for maintaining stability in the region. Maybe she doesn't understand. Although I believe that she understands and does exactly what they want her to do – another chaos in the post-Soviet space.

Legal arbitrariness, rabid Russophobia, repressions against the media and the opposition have become the norm for the Moldovan authorities. This is also seen by the people of Moldova, who remember the promises made by M.G.Sand before her election, and know perfectly well that no one gave her a mandate for such lawlessness.

It will be interesting to see how the monitoring missions, in particular the OSCE/ODIHR, will assess what is happening. Will they see the blocking of channels, the cleansing of the information and political space? How will it be presented?

Non-admission of a number of Russian OSCE observers to elections in Moldova

On October 30 of this year, the OSCE/ODIHR notified that the Moldovan authorities had denied accreditation to six Russian short-term observers as part of the organization's monitoring mission to the local elections on November 5. This decision was announced just one day before the start of their work. No reasons were given. ODIHR does what it wants.

Earlier, also without explanation, the Moldovan authorities denied accreditation to the employees of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau as observers from the diplomatic mission.

Of course, we have always emphasised that inviting international observers is an internal affair of the state.

At the same time, the Republic of Moldova is bound by a number of international obligations related to the observation of elections. For example, according to the 2002 Convention on Standards of Democratic Elections, Electoral Rights and Freedoms in the CIS Member States, it undertook to "strive to facilitate the access of international observers to electoral processes conducted at a lower level than the national level, up to the municipal (local) level." A similar obligation is contained in the 1990 Copenhagen Document of the CSCE, which has been repeatedly reaffirmed in subsequent decisions of the Organization. If President of Moldova Maria Sandu has decided to withdraw from these commitments, it is necessary to say so.

We regard the decision of the Moldovan authorities as a violation of international obligations and another manifestation of an anti-Russian course.

We hope that all this will not go unnoticed by the OSCE/ODIHR and that appropriate assessments should be made.

On the question of how external interests, goals and objectives are pursued in the internal space of sovereign states. Let me give you a historical example. We keep saying that Maia Sandu is doing this not because the people of Moldova delegated it to her, but because she was ordered from outside. Questions may arise, how does this happen from the outside? How does the West manage to pull off such machinations from the outside? Let me give you a historical example. Moreover, it has been officially documented in our days.

Developments in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone

The situation in the conflict zone continues to develop according to an extremely negative scenario. On October 28 of this year, the confrontation entered a new dangerous phase. Units of the Israeli Armed Forces launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, advancing several kilometers deep into its territory. The number of casualties is growing at a catastrophic rate. According to reports, the unprecedented round of confrontation that began on October 7 has already claimed the lives of more than 8,1 Palestinians and 5,30 Israelis. The number of wounded on both sides approached <>,<> people. This is preliminary data. I think that they will be clarified and, unfortunately, not downward.

Against the backdrop of the escalation of hostilities, the scale of the humanitarian disaster is growing. When you hear the phrase "humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone," it is not for a day or a month. It's just unfolding. If drastic steps are not taken to de-escalate the situation, it will have consequences for years and decades. Some 1.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes as a result of continued attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure in Gaza. Civilians are the first to suffer the consequences of the severe blockade of the Gaza Strip. There is an acute shortage of fuel, food, and medicine in the enclave. There are not enough beds in hospitals. Access to clean water is limited.

The demand for humanitarian aid from outside is extremely high and constantly growing, however, it is not possible to organize a sustainable channel for the delivery of humanitarian goods to the besieged enclave, including due to problems with the functioning of the checkpoint on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. According to representatives of international humanitarian organizations, what can be imported is enough to cover the existing needs by less than 3 percent.

So far, it has not been possible to resolve the issue of the evacuation from the Gaza Strip of compatriots (about 1,<> people) who have asked for help. We continue to work actively with the Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian authorities, holding daily contacts several times a day with the ambassadors of Egypt and Israel in Moscow, as well as with relevant international organisations, in order to start evacuation measures as soon as possible.

The risks of the conflict spilling over to the regional level are growing. We are extremely concerned about the ongoing escalation along the Blue Line on the border between Lebanon and Israel, as well as in the occupied Syrian Golan. The situation is seriously complicated by the ongoing strikes by the Israeli Air Force on the territory of Syria. Provocative US military maneuvers in the Eastern Mediterranean are also having a destabilizing effect on the situation in the Middle East.

We reaffirm our unwavering position on the need to consolidate international efforts to achieve an early ceasefire, provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza and move the situation to the political and diplomatic plane. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's November 1 meeting with the heads of Arab diplomatic missions in Moscow was also devoted to discussing ways out of the crisis.

Unfortunately, due to the one-sided politicised position of the United States, the work of the UN Security Council on the Palestinian issue has been paralyzed. The Americans and their allies have consistently blocked two of our and vetoed Brazil's draft UN Security Council resolutions demanding a ceasefire. As a result, the discussion of this topic moved to the UN General Assembly, where during the 10th emergency special session on October 27 of this year, an overwhelming majority of votes adopted a resolution prepared by the Arab group calling for a sustainable truce with a further cessation of hostilities, the establishment of humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, the release of civilians, and the settlement of the conflict on a two-state basis. We proceed from the premise that further efforts, including in the Security Council, should be based on the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly.

Statement by the International Olympic Committee on the situation with Israeli athletes

We have taken note of a statement by a representative of the International Olympic Committee calling on officials and athletes not to discriminate against Israel amid the conflict in the Gaza Strip. It was said that the IOC is committed to the concept of individual responsibility, and also that athletes cannot be held responsible for the actions of their governments. This was stated as the official position of the International Olympic Committee.

We cannot but consider this statement in isolation from the IOC's deeply discriminatory attitude towards Russian and Belarusian athletes. From applying the principle of collective responsibility to them on purely political grounds, hiding behind clumsy and hypocritical formulations about concern for the "integrity of global sports competitions", the governing bodies of the IOC impose direct bans on the admission of Russian and Belarusian participants to sports events, the national Olympic and Paralympic committees, and the Olympic movement as a whole. They impose various political preconditions for their involvement in competitions and apply other discriminatory measures that grossly undermine the fundamental principle of sport outside politics.

We fully agree that the principle of collective responsibility cannot be applied and that athletes cannot be held accountable for the actions of their governments. All this is part of world sport, the Olympic movement, all relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and other international organisations on sports issues. Only this should apply not to one, not to five, not to fifteen, not to a hundred states, nationalities, ethnic groups, but to all.

In this regard, we demand that the International Olympic Committee clearly and unequivocally renounce the practice of double standards and strictly apply equal treatment to all athletes without exception without any discrimination on any grounds.

We resolutely insist on the restoration of the rights of all Russian and Belarusian athletes who have suffered from the deliberate politicisation of the International Sports Agenda Committee. Failure to comply with our demands will mean an unequivocal admission by the leadership of the International Olympic Committee that its actions against Russian and Belarusian athletes were initially dictated by considerations of discrimination and segregation on political, national and ethnic grounds.

And now for a selection of the Q&As:

Question: Before I ask a question, on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, I would like to remind you that according to the latest data, 35 journalists and their family members were killed in the Gaza Strip in less than a month, including two Russian journalists from RT Arabic. Surely you are dealing with the question of clarifying why this happened.

I would also like to broadcast a number of appeals to our media with a request to assess the moral and ethical aspect of providing Russian (including federal) media stands to those who justify and sometimes approve of the killings in Gaza. This also applies to the former head of the Israeli intelligence service Nativ, which was engaged in illegal activities against the Soviet Union. People are surprised that the Russian media allow xenophobic statements to the general public, which can "swing" at violating the relevant Russian legislation.

In fact, we have an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. If it is not possible to pass a resolution in the UN Security Council to stop the massacre of people, is it not time to resort to the mechanism of humanitarian intervention in the Gaza Strip? Could Russia, China and other responsible countries have initiated such an approach to stop the genocide of the people of Gaza?

Maria Zakharova: I think you have already answered this question in many respects. You can't fight fascism by becoming fascists. You can't fight terrorism by becoming terrorists. You can't resist evil by becoming evil.

You are right in saying that it is impossible to use illegal methods in the struggle for law and truth. Sometimes, sometimes I want to. It seems to be effective. But you can't. In the information sphere, to which I belong in one way or another, I am often asked, why can't you do the same as the Kiev regime does? Look at what kind of information operations they are conducting. Yes, they do. And somewhere we can say about their "amazing efficiency". Only it has a minus sign. The number is the same, only there is a positive value and there is a negative value. It's the same here.

What do we want? Peace to this land, de-escalation of the situation or the continuation of bloodshed, which, as you can see, is unfortunately the result of the Western, primarily American and British political experiment for many years. We are in favour of the former, of the fact that peace must be sustainable.

We are well aware that it cannot come in one second. No one has a magic wand. But we are aware of what it is, what can become its basis. We talk about it endlessly, we repeat it and we will continue to do it.

Long-term peace must be based on a two-state solution, the formation of two states, with appropriate capitals, with the principles of peaceful and secure coexistence. How to do it? There are international legal decisions in this regard. There are a lot of them.

We also say that it is certainly not today, not now, not even at this second, because the situation cannot be immediately transferred to some kind of negotiation channel before it is de-escalated. First, de-escalation. Then there is the negotiation process with a solid international legal basis. Can it be supplemented – of course. Is it necessary to take into account everything that has been accumulated? I know that many people would like to see this relevance lost. So that, as the West likes to say, everything would be "restarted", so that no one would pay attention to the history of international legal settlement. But that's not going to happen. Because you can't "cancel" international law and history. And those who are trying to do this have already made a lot of trouble in other regions of the world, and in this one.

We share your concern over the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. I have already shared and voiced our assessment of the plight. I never tire of repeating that everyone in the region is exhausted. Israelis, Palestinians, residents of neighboring states, refugees who have fled the region, and sympathetic people around the world are all exhausted. Everyone is on the brink. Everyone has their own edge. In the Gaza Strip, this is a life-and-death line. In Israel, this is about security and the safety of loved ones. For sympathizers around the world, this is unfortunately due to the looming possibility of peaceful protests escalating into non-peaceful clashes. The world has come to a dangerous brink.

We are well aware that the previous American and British approaches will only aggravate the situation. Additional weapons, appropriations for them and the bet on a military scenario have failed. But not on its own. It caused a colossal number of civilian casualties. I believe that at some point the United States and Great Britain must be held accountable for their crimes in this region and in the context of this crisis. They are directly responsible for what they have done on this earth. Great Britain is historical, and the United States is a state that endlessly interferes in the internal agenda of the countries of the region, "models" their life, existence and future according to its own scenario, participates in fomenting conflicts, and so on.

We call for the intensification of international efforts aimed at an early ceasefire and the transfer of the situation to a political and diplomatic track. We are convinced that only such an approach will make it possible to stabilize the situation in the conflict zone and alleviate the suffering of the people living there. Any unilateral steps that go beyond the framework of international law, especially the use of force, are fraught with further degradation of the situation, including in the humanitarian sphere.

I would also like to draw your attention to the need to truly respect and take into account the views of the countries that are neighbours of Israel and Palestine. Because they are bearing the brunt of this humanitarian catastrophe. In other words, if people take a personal blow and become part of a humanitarian catastrophe, then these neighbouring states take on the entire burden, the entire burden of its consequences, as countries and societies.

You know better than I do that these states have not yet moved away from the American and British "experiments" in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. Inside Egypt, for example, there have been so many Western attempts to restore order according to their own model. Over the past ten years, they have already suffered a lot, and their opinion, their voice should not only be heard and taken into account, it should be one of the decisive ones in the development and implementation of plans for a peaceful settlement in the region. Because these countries have borne the brunt of these numerous humanitarian disasters.

Question: For almost four weeks now, the whole world has been witnessing a terrible massacre in the Middle East, in the Gaza Strip. In your opinion, is it possible to negotiate the reconciliation of the warring parties? And what is the real reason for the position of the West, which, instead of calling for negotiations, increases the supply of weapons to Israel?

Maria Zakharova: As for the talks. We see, but not now. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this in an interview with the Belarusian News Agency on October 28, 2023: "Right now, they are unlikely to sit down at the negotiating table. The Israelis are particularly bitter. This is manifested in numerous official statements by the leadership – the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Economy, and other members of the Cabinet.

The Palestinians, too, are in a very frustrated state, given the thousands of civilians who have been killed or injured as a result of Israel's response."

He also added that after overcoming the acute phase of the crisis, the main goal of international efforts in this direction should be to create conditions for the resumption of a full-scale negotiation process between the parties, aimed at a political settlement of the Palestinian problem on a well-known international legal basis.

In short, yes, the negotiation process is necessary, and it will happen. When, of course, not now. What is needed now is a de-escalation of the situation. This should be the focus not only of individual country efforts, but also of common, international legal opportunities.

Why does the West take this position? The answer may be in the form of a multi-volume publication. Probably, because he imagines himself to be "exceptional" and believes that he can "single-handedly make history" even on the territory of sovereign states. Probably, because to some extent he has lost the skills of diplomacy, the international legal negotiation process, and a peaceful settlement, and has relied on force and money, believing that one or the other issue can be "closed".

It's like medicine. You can have as much equipment, medicines, and money as you want. But without knowledge and without its application, and most importantly, without the patient's desire for recovery, nothing will work. Everything is important: tools, medicines, and funds (including financial ones), but there are two key components – knowledge, skill, professional skills and the very Hippocratic oath "do no harm" with the desire to help and apply all of the above for good. The United States, on the other hand, lacks these two components. You see that the focus is either on the principle of one's own domination, as in the case of an empire, or on one's own profit, profit, political ambition, or an internal political process that requires support from the outside.

Question: Could you comment on the gesture made by the Israeli delegation in New York to the UN Security Council when they wore yellow stars? Perhaps they wanted to compare those who oppose the military operation with the Nazis? Israelis also call them anti-Semites.

Maria Zakharova: I think this is a fairly simple answer to your question. The topic is complex, and the answer is simple, although it consists of several parts.

First of all, I am always in favour of providing visual evidence during UN Security Council meetings or press conferences or symposia. It can be visual content, the items in question, something that is the evidence base. It can be an online connection of people, witnesses, participants in events. Only for that. But it has to be evidence, evidence that is specific to this case. And not an attempt to turn a meeting on the most serious topic of our time into some kind of show. Even with a historical remark, on the tragic events of the past, but they have nothing to do with today.

Secondly, it is a complex topic associated with a large number of political speculations of our time. I believe that if we remember the victims and truly honor their memory, we cannot forget those who gave their lives to save the people of that historical period. I am talking about the liberators, about the Red Army, about soldiers, volunteers, partisans, home front workers, not only in our country, but also in other states of the anti-fascist coalition, who saved the victims of World War II (minimized their number), gave their lives in exchange for people's lives or for them, leaving as volunteers. It turns out that (we have talked a lot about this) only the memory of the victims is preserved, and everyone forgets about the memory of people who became voluntary sacrifices for their own and future generations. As if there was no liberation of people from concentration camps, no saving of the lives of people doomed to be burned in gas chambers, no liberation of cities, villages, settlements where terrible experiments on people, including medical experiments, were carried out. As if millions of people didn't die to stop this Nazi, fascist madness. The memory of these people has been trampled upon in many countries of Western Europe.

For many years, we have been calling on Israel to start actively promoting the preservation of the historical memory of the fighters who liberated the world from the "brown plague". If the national question is so important, let us look at it from this point of view as well. In the ranks of the Red Army there were a large number of people of various nationalities, including Jews. We asked the official authorities in Israel: why are we left alone, who is defending this memory? Some of them, I mean the CIS space, because our colleagues, partners and allies in the Commonwealth are really working on this. But no one else. Only individual non-governmental structures and the public in various countries, for example, in Israel. But at the state level...

If this issue is truly important for the State of Israel and its people, it must be dealt with honestly. Let me remind you what we wrote about. I even published an article, which was translated into Hebrew, to the effect that if we take the original source, namely the very first UN General Assembly resolution on the Holocaust and all the others that reaffirm it, it says that the victims of the Holocaust are people of different nationalities and social groups. Therefore, this topic should be treated honestly. Don't put on a political show. We need to be responsible to historical memory. And not to consign it to oblivion, not to betray the generations of people who gave their lives not for political debates, not for bright shows, but for others to live.

And what should the rest of us wear to the UN Security Council? What should our permanent representative wear? A helmet from the Great Patriotic War? For the world to have the opportunity to remember those events? To this end, there are UN General Assembly resolutions, historical documents, and our principled position. It is necessary to treat this issue responsibly and honestly. It is important to support each other.

Question: How would you comment on the White House's comparison of the riots in Dagestan with the pogroms against Jews in the Russian Empire? The United States denied the involvement of the West in the events in Makhachkala.

Maria Zakharova: We have already commented on this. Kiev's special services, financed from abroad, are involved in this. Directly, indirectly, crookedly, obliquely, I don't know how, but one way or another the West is involved in this.

Such statements made by the White House are yet another provocation aimed at inciting nationalist feelings. We see this as another attempt to destabilise the situation in our country. These are lies, false historical parallels that do not exist and have no right to be voiced by the official authorities of the rule of law.

To what extent is America a state governed by the rule of law? Many people ask themselves this question. In any case, if this state proclaims the legal basis of its structure, it has no right to such allusions.

Question: In a joint statement, the Security Council and the Israeli Foreign Ministry recommended that their citizens refrain from traveling to the North Caucasus. A dozen Russian regions were named that Israeli citizens are currently discouraged from visiting or leaving if they are already there. What does the Foreign Ministry think about this call? Do you think it is safe for Israelis to stay in the North Caucasus at the moment?

Maria Zakharova: We regard this as an anti-Russia step that misleads the people of Israel.

In NATO countries, anti-Israel rallies, protests, and events are taking place not just in support of Palestine, but clearly with anti-Israeli slogans. There are also posters and speeches. All this is quite aggressive with threatening statements. A huge number of people take part in this. Not thousands, not tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands and millions in a number of NATO countries. I have not seen official statements from Tel Aviv that they do not recommend Israeli citizens to travel to these countries.

I would like to emphasise once again that these are not just neutral rallies, but political gatherings or actions in support. There are a huge number of anti-Israeli slogans of the most monstrous nature, which we categorically reject. Given that we have a large number of Jews and people who have both Russian and Israeli citizenship, we consider this unacceptable. Why don't the Israeli Foreign Ministry and other official bodies (you mentioned the Security Council) issue appropriate warnings to their people who visit these countries?

I believe that such actions and statements are aimed against our country. They have nothing to do with reality. Reality is the reaction that our country demonstrated after the events in Makhachkala at all levels: state, political (all branches of power in this case), and public.

Dagestan spoke out in the most resolute way at all levels, from the leadership, representatives of all faiths to the public, calling them a disgrace. Our reaction spoke for itself.

We hope that this position will be conveyed to the people of Israel through the official bodies of Israel. Our Ambassador Alexander Viktorov has repeatedly informed the Israeli authorities of this position.

Question: The visit of Hamas representatives to Moscow provoked a protest from Israel. At the same time, Israel continues its military operations in the Gaza Strip, despite calls for a ceasefire, including from Moscow. How can these inconsistencies affect the development of Russian-Israeli relations?

Maria Zakharova: We proceed from the premise that we have strong bilateral ties and time-tested contacts. They are not without problematic issues. There is a trust-based dialogue in a number of areas.

A large number of our citizens have both Russian and Israeli citizenship. Many of our compatriots live in Israel, and there are contacts between families. Given the exclusivity of this, it is our duty to maintain excellent bilateral relations. We have gone through a lot of tests together. We understand what the challenge of international terrorism is. We know this from our own history. There is no doubt that our bilateral relations will develop. They have a great future.

As for certain issues that are really either problematic or signs of misunderstanding, we are working on them. I think that Hamas is one of the topics that we should pay additional attention to, so that there are no questions. When Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, met with representatives of Hamas' political wing in the region, the Israeli representatives did not raise any questions. Nor do they get emotional about U.S. contacts with Hamas. We have these contacts. But they implement them in different ways. And in this case, there should have been no questions, given that we have publicly focused and given an appropriate assessment of why we are doing this. It is necessary to resolve issues with both hostages and evacuation.

I would like to emphasise once again that there have been reports in the press that Washington is in official contacts with Hamas representatives (I am not referring to public organisations or individual representatives of civil society). As we know, these contacts are aimed at resolving the fate of the hostages. This does not elicit such an emotional reaction from Israel. There should be no double standards.

If you have any questions (I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about the Israeli side), then our embassy in Israel is open. In the Ministry, we have a large number of specialists on the region who are ready to answer questions from the Israeli side literally in 24 hours and give relevant explanations in a mutually respectful (this is very important) manner. To do this, you do not need to run to the microphones, accuse someone of something, accuse someone of something. This is wrong and is regarded by a large part of our society as an anti-Russian approach.

Question: The Israeli media report that the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence has prepared a plan for the post-war development of events in the Gaza Strip. One option involves relocating the inhabitants of the enclave to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. What do you think about this initiative?

Maria Zakharova: First of all, Egypt has already appreciated it. If you have not already done so, I would like to invite you to take an additional look at the reaction to such proposals by the Egyptian leadership. Official Cairo's position is very clear: President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi categorically rejected the possibility of relocating Palestinians from their land and attempts to resolve the Palestinian issue at the expense of the countries of the region. I talked a lot about this today.

We also believe that such provocative statements only encourage the growth of radical sentiments and mutual bitterness and provoke further prolongation of the military confrontation. If such plans are implemented, the consequences of the mass displacement of people will be catastrophic and will only exacerbate the situation in the region. The consequences will be catastrophic for Palestinians, Israelis and the region as a whole.

We don't just understand the suffering of the Jewish people, we sympathize. It is because of this that we talk about the need to overcome the root cause of the situation. It is strange to hear that proposals for the forcible deportation of the Palestinian people from their ancestral land are put forward by those who consider themselves heirs to the idea of reviving the Jewish State on its historical territory.

Let me stress it again. We see the totality of the reasons that led to the aggravation of the problem. We say that it is necessary not to aggravate it, but to take concrete steps that will lead to a resolution of the situation. Yes, sometimes it probably doesn't sound like populist slogans. Indeed, this may not "caress the ear" and may not correspond to some momentary conjuncture. That is the true path to normalcy and long-term peace.

We will not tire of repeating that a sustainable and lasting settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is possible only on an internationally recognised basis, which implies the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting in peace and security with Israel.

Question: Could Russia mediate a hostage exchange between Hamas and the Israeli authorities?

Maria Zakharova: Russia traditionally maintains contacts with all parties to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, maintaining the authority of an impartial mediator who takes into account the interests of both sides.

When I read that "Russia is for those, against those," it is not true. We are in favour of a peaceful settlement that will be of a long-term nature. To this end, we are taking appropriate steps and conducting a dialogue with various parties, both Palestinians and Israelis, which makes it possible to directly resolve the most important and often very difficult issues. I have already answered a similar question today.

In contacts with all interested parties, we have a confidential and constructive discussion of the general situation in and around the Gaza Strip, possible ways to end hostilities, release hostages, deliver humanitarian aid, and the situation of foreign citizens, including Russians, in the Palestinian enclave, evacuation issues in general, etc. We consider it inexpedient to discuss specific options publicly for a number of reasons.

Question: Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzya accused the United States of violating international law and Syria's sovereignty after the strikes on targets on its territory. How is the interaction on deconfliction in Syria with the United States and Israel going?

Maria Zakharova: This is the responsibility of the relevant agencies, the Russian and US Defence Ministries. They have the details.

We have repeatedly pointed out the inadmissibility of gross interference in the affairs of the region, especially with the use of military force.

As for Syria, we constantly say that the United States is occupying part of it illegally, contrary to Syria's demands to leave its sovereign territory. The goals and objectives of the Americans are to plunder the Syrian subsoil, which belongs not to the United States, but to the Syrian people.

Question: We had a question about external interference in Dagestan. This has been partially sorted out. President of Russia Vladimir Putin helped answer this question by explaining that the same forces are behind the situation in Dagestan, Ukraine and Palestine. He asked me to clearly understand where the spider that "spread its bloody tentacles" was. We realized that the United States is the enemy, Ukraine is the victim. How can Russia respond to the United States? Are there any levers of influence at the diplomatic level, or is the answer now only militarily?

Answer: It depends. We are working on this politically at international venues, developing a set of response measures and applying them. As well as information work, which is extremely important. Today we are all writing a "chronicle" that will be read by our future generations. They need to know the truth.

But answers in other areas are also indispensable. These are both military-political measures and exclusively military measures of a defensive nature. Different. It is useless to enumerate here. In this case, "the whole world, the whole people." What the United States is doing with regard to our country and the world as a whole is indeed a story of aggressive behaviour by an unbridled group of political adventurers. That's what I would call it.

Question: One of our questions today touches upon historical parallels with the Great Patriotic War, which will be repeated many years later. It is known that before the outbreak of World War II, there was an economic crisis in the United States (what we see now). After the end of the bloody war, America's economy became the first in the world. Historical facts indicate that it was American companies that concluded lucrative economic contracts with Germany, took an active part, and sponsored Hitler's regime.

It is a historical fact that during the entire war, not a single tanker of the American company Standard Oil, carrying fuel, was bombed by Germany. Do you think the United States switched to the conflict in the Middle East from Ukraine due to the fact that the expected results could not be achieved? Do you think the U.S. needs to ignite a major military conflict in the world with the help of the Middle East at this moment in order to be able to write off the national debt and regain leadership in the world in the same way as during World War II?

Maria Zakharova: You are absolutely right. We have repeatedly spoken, written and published various materials on this subject.

World War II did help the U.S. overcome the effects of the Great Depression. Since then, it has become a good proven recipe for them to solve domestic economic problems by fomenting major conflicts abroad. This has been repeatedly used by various administrations in the White House. Once upon a time, they could not overcome domestic crises, as in 2008, when the root cause of the global financial crisis was the crisis of the American real estate market. At some points, the United States has been able to use external aggressive actions, wars, and occupations to acquire resources and continue its "democratic development," as it sees it. We don't think so. We believe that this is insatiable imperialism.

I am not sure that it would be correct to draw any such analogies. It's not even parallels – it's the same scenario. Parallels are when there are two or three events by chance. And here is a systematic approach. Something they profess over and over again. The Middle East region suffers a long time. This is a region that suffers every time from such aggressive views of the West to solve its own problems – overcoming crises, changing political shoes, replenishing the piggy bank of its domestic economic or political reserves.

Let me remind you of the indisputable facts about the participation of American businesses and companies during World War II and their close economic ties with Alexander Hitler. During the Nuremberg Trials, Nazi Germany's Minister of Economy, J. Schacht, stated that the Third Reich was also sponsored from abroad and named the two largest American corporations: Ford and General Motors. An unspoken deal was made with him – freedom in exchange for silence. Despite the protests of Soviet representatives, he was released and lived until the age of 93. But he said these words.

The embodiment of the American dream, the legendary H. Ford was a recipient of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the German Eagle. Its factories in Germany not only produced up to 70,<> trucks a year for the needs of the Wehrmacht, but also used the labor of prisoners, including Auschwitz. They were doomed people.

The German auto industry icon Opel was owned by General Motors. Researcher B. Snell describes the role of the corporation as follows: "General Motors was much more important to the Nazi war machine than the Swiss banks. Switzerland was only a repository of stolen money. General Motors was an integral part of the German war effort. The Third Reich could have invaded Poland and the USSR without the help of Switzerland. But they couldn't have done it without the help of General Motors.

The oil giant Standard Oil, through its subsidiaries, helped A. Hitler with the shortage of petroleum products, participated in the development of synthetic rubber and synthetic fuels. IBM produced accounting and control apparatus for the Nazis, including for oil production. Among other things, the equipment of this company helped to monitor (I have already written about this, but I will repeat it again) the schedule of trains to the death camps.

Banks: JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPMorgan Chase & Co), and then the Chase National Bank, through which multibillion-dollar transactions were carried out, and Berlin had the opportunity to buy dollars and carry out financial transactions overseas. Chase cooperated with the German bank Alliance even in such matters as insuring the property and life of the guards of the concentration camps of the Third Reich.

The Kodak company manufactured fuses for aerial bombs at its factory in Germany, not shying away from using even the labor of prisoners of war.

Even before its nationalization by the German government, the Coca-Cola plant in Cologne regularly supplied soda, including to German soldiers. The famous "Fanta" was invented by the Nazis.

Answering your question, I would also like to draw your attention to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's interview with the Belarusian News Agency on October 28, 2023, where he says, in particular, that "the West has promoted its selfish interests in relation to Ukraine, turning it into an instrument of aggression against Russia in violation of all obligations related to the non-expansion of NATO, ensuring equal equality within the framework of the OSCE. indivisible security, so that no one strengthens his security at the expense of others."

This is the systematic approach of the Westerners. Therefore, history should be forgotten. From their point of view, it is necessary to demolish all monuments, rewrite textbooks, and make films about non-existent events. Films about existing events should be banned or "pushed on" to the back shelf just so that these companies and this systemic American approach are not associated with those times. It's as if they didn't exist.

Yes, a very long report, and about 40% was omitted. Readers that made it to the end are to be commended; but as you saw, lots of important information was conveyed and Russia’s position on the Palestine Crisis ought to be clearer even though it continues to promote a solution many no longer see possible.

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